


First Date

by TheNerdRevolution



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Marauders' Era, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-18 23:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3588645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNerdRevolution/pseuds/TheNerdRevolution
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you're in a secret relationship that you don't want your friends to know about, it's kind of hard to be able to go out on a date, but with James and Lily now together, Sirius is desperate to take Remus somewhere, the only problem is, well, pretty much everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Date

"No, Pads, we're just going to have to work around them," chided Remus as they sat alone at 1 am in by the fire, still trying to finish their homework.  
"Moony, they'll need to know at some point," reasoned Sirius, trying to keep a clear head. It was just that he hated being forced to lie to his best friend, oh, and Wormtail, even if he wanted to keep the promise he made to Remus, the guy that he could finally call his boyfrie-  
"Sirius?"  
"Hm...?" replied Sirius, his head jolting up.  
"The colour changing potion needs 3 caterpillar heads, not 2." Trust Moony to bring the conversation back to homework.  
"Whoop-dee-doo," muttered Sirius. "Another caterpillar to decapitate. Has anyone ever thought about the ethics of this lesson.  
"Pads, you were the one who wanted to turn silvery white, pretend to be a ghost and scare the shit out of Snivellus!"  
"Are you sure I said that? Because I'm pretty sure I didn't say that," retorted Sirius, his head bent low over his work to hide his smile. Remus leant over and kissed his cheek gently.  
"It was you, and you blooming well know it was."  
"Of course it was me, Moony. Who else would come up with such a fucking brilliant plan? Peter?"  
"You're insufferable," muttered Remus, but Padfoot's smirk was contagious. Sirius leant his head on Remus' shoulder and looked calmly but cheekily into his eyes.  
"And you wouldn't have me any other way, Moons," he mumbled.  
"Suddenly he sat up and smiled. "In fact, I think we should go on a date. No- Moony," he replied quickly to Remus' unanswered question. "We don't have to tell James, Lily, Wormy, or anyone else, just let me take you on a proper date without us having to sneak around Gryffindor Tower at 1 am. Please, Remus?  
"S-sure, Pads, I guess", replied the other boy, slightly started by the use of his full name. "But if anyone catches us, well, screw you if they do!" he exclaimed, before cursing his choice of words. Sirius raised a single eyebrow.  
"That a promise?"  
Moony buried his face in his hands, as Sirius bent down to finish his essay with a flourish.  
"Done," he said, beaming at the parchment covered in a messy scrawl. "That should keep old Sluggy happy for now. I'm going to bed. Coming?" Remus nodded, and they tiptoed up the staircase, hands linked, fingers knitted together.

The next morning, as he woke up on that Wednesday morning, Remus' eyes fell on the mop of black hair visible through the chink in the red velvet drapes of the adjacent four-poster. He smiled, a guilty smile that he knew no one would see. However, he became completely alert as soon as he heard the rustling of sheets from across the dormitory that signified the waking up of Prongs, and the scraping of curtain rings, dropping of something light and metal, and list of profanities that was the usual morning routine entitled 'James put his glasses on.' Then, with more groaning now reverberating around the room, Remus heard Padfoot awaken, and a dark eye peered at him through the gap in the curtains. His smile from before tried to re-emerge, but he forced it down in light of his location. After a few seconds of eye contact between the two of them that felt like hours, the bang of a skull against wood made them aware that Peter was now also awake. Sirius, in an effort to normalise the situation, pulled back his drapes and forced that cheeky grin that Remus couldn't help loving.  
"All right, Prongsie?"  
"Morning, Padfoot," replied James sleepily, pushing back his fringe and yawning simultaneously. Remus got up out of bed next, but felt woozy as he rose, and cursed the full moon that has occurred three days prior. Plopping a single square of Honeydukes chocolate into his mouth to try and send away his headache for Potions at least. Couldn't show weakness in front of the Slytherins now, could you?  
"Hey, Moony, you coming to breakfast or what?" came the hoarse voice of a Wormtail. Remus hadn't even noticed that his own legs had carried him over to the window, where he had been consumed in thoughts while looking over the rooftops.  
"Hey, Wormy," came the smooth voice of Sirius. "You trying to keep Moony all to yourself?" Remus glared at the black haired boy who in turn didn't meet his eyes.  
"We're coming, Pads," said Remus as he walked straight past him, or rather as he squeezed past him in the doorway. As he did, Sirius extended his long fingers to brush against e back of Remus' hand. He flinched and looked angrily at Sirius, but luckily Peter was looking the other way and saw nothing.  
"Come on, Peter," said Remus, now on the other side of the doorway. Peter scuttled after the two considerably taller boys, oblivious to the subtext.

Sitting at the long Gryffindor table in the Great Halls, James had his hand lying casually on Lily's and, Remus, could see Sirius' eyes drifting to the one holding a blackbird feather quill- Remus' own.  
"Hey, Remus, will you come to the library with me quickly?" asked Sirius, attempting to keep his tone nonchalant. "I, uh, need to return Quidditch Through the Ages or I'll start getting Madam Pince on my back."  
"Oh, yeah, sure, Pads," replied Remus, swinging his long legs out from under the table.  
"See you in Potions, guys," said Sirius over his shoulders they walked off towards the library, a well trodden path- for Remus at least. Suddenly, halfway there, Sirius pulled Remus into a broom cupboard.  
"Ow," complained Remus, practically inaudibly, as a plastic muggle dustpan fell on his head.  
"You okay, Moony-pie?" They were in such close proximity to one another that Sirius had easily heard Remus.  
"Sirius, if you're going to call me a nickname, call me Moony, please."  
"Okay, Moonykins." Remus sighed, but couldn't wipe the smile from his face.  
"Moony," said Sirius suddenly, rounding on him. "What do you say to dinner near that restaurant near Madam Puddifoot's on Saturday night? If we leave the tower at 7, we could easily be there by half 7. Please?" asked Sirius, then began to sarcastically flutter his dark eyelashes.  
"Fine, Pads," replied Remus quietly, slightly taken aback. "And, oh shit, we're going to be late for Sluggy!" He grabbed the cuff of the other's white shirt and yanked him from the room, making a mental note that that had been the room, well, broom cupboard, where Sirius Black, the infamous Hogwarts heartthrob had asked asked him, Remus Lupin, a nerdy werewolf, on a date. 

"You get that book back to the library?" asked James as the Marauders and Lily walked into the dungeon classroom, Remus and Sirius having sprinted down from the broom cupboard- sorry, 'library'. As they entered the classroom, almost everyone sniffed in deeply. They could each smell something amazing and individual: homemade ginger cookies, freshly laundered linen, pine and another infinity of scents were drifting around the room, though each student was only able to detect their favourite, as was the nature of-  
"Amortentia," announced Professor Slughorn, his eyes glinting at the reactions of the teenagers who had just entered the room. He abruptly picked up the pewter lid and placed it on the top of the cauldron, instantly stopping a portion of the class (which was predominantly female) in their tracks as they were subconsciously drawn towards the potion.  
"As you have probably realised by now," continued Slughorn as a few of the girls looked at him, slightly put out. "The Amortentia potion smells different to each person, according to the scent that attracts them the most. So, would anyone like to share what they could smell as they entered the room?" Not one person answered, though Paige Brown and Ashma Patil looked around at everyone, interested as to whether anyone would share something quite so personal. Not surprising really. Paige and Ashma were best friends and the queens when it came to gossip. Sirius remembered dating Ashma in third year, then Paige in fourth. There was even a rumour now that Paige had a crush on him, but it was also rumoured that she was homophobic. God, if she ever found out that he was bisexual, what would happen? That was not something he wanted to think about.  
"So, today, you will be brewing Amortentia," said Slughorn, "which is on page-"  
"Fifty-six," muttered Remus under his breath as Slughorn said it to the whole class, leaving Sirius wondering how many times Remus had actually read the textbook.  
"So, get going!" finished Slughorn with a flourish of his hand towards the tables. By instinct the four marauders, accompanied by Lily, made their way towards the table closest towards the door.  
"Hey, Sirius," said James from across the table, as Sirius had seated himself between the two other boys on the table, "what do you say to sunset Quidditch practice, 7pm, Saturday?" Sirius paled at the question, looking as though he was about to be sick.  
"Um, I'm not sure Saturday's good for me, Prongs, sorry," replied Sirius with a furtive, unnoticed glance towards Remus.  
"What, you sneaking out for some date with some girl you haven't told me about?" retorted James sarcastically. He didn't know how close he had just been to hitting the nail on the head.  
"Oh, actually, Prongs, maybe I could make it on Saturday," mumbled Sirius, gripping his spoon as though his hand was a boa constrictor to disguise the nervous tremble in his fingers.  
"Great, Pads!" replied James enthusiastically, adding an overzealous amount of myrtlap paste to his potion.  
"Uh, James," muttered Remus.  
"Oh, crap," exclaimed James as his eyes fell on the brown sludge at the bottom of his cauldron.  
"Scourgify," he muttered, pointing his maple wand at the contents.  
"That looked like shit," decided Peter, obviously eager to add something to the conversation.  
"Cheers for that, Pettigrew," snapped Lily frustratedly, as her own potion had just turned a revolting shade of green. But it was nothing compared to Peter's, which had turned a fiery crimson and was bubbling and frothing at an alarming rate. Just Sirius and Remus' potions were the correct powder blue at this stage.  
"Hey, Moony, can you help me find some rat kidneys in the store cupboard?" asked Sirius, a look on his face that made it clear to Remus that he really need to talk to him. They departed from the table as James started having a one sided conversation with Lily about how he couldn't believe such disgusting things could be in such a beautiful potion.  
"I'm so, so, sorry, Remus," whispered Sirius apologetically as they entered the store cupboard. "I mean, you saw, James was asking, and I couldn't just lie to him, and I panicked, and-"  
"Sirius, it's fine," interjected Remus, his voice soothing and kind. "You did the right thing." He paused to tuck a loose lock of hair behind his ear. "We'll just have to, uh, postpone."  
"Thanks, Moons. Now, we'd better actually get some rat kidneys or we'll get more probing questions from Prongsie."  
"Hey, Sirius, can I ask you just one more thing?"  
"Course."  
"Why do you often call James 'Prongsie' instead of Prongs?" Sirius shrugged.  
"Pretty much just to patronise him for my own personal satisfaction." After a second the humour of the statement had sunk in, and they both chuckled guiltily like seven year olds sharing a toilet joke, not seventeen year olds in love. Suddenly Peter popped his head around the door, notifying them that they really needed those rat kidneys right about then.

"Hey guys," said James as they walked back into the main room. Lily's cheeks were pinker than usual, and she was giggling quietly into her boyfriend's shoulder. A couple that could be themselves in public; Remus was almost jealous.  
"Has everyone finished adding their ingredients now?" asked the echoing voice of Slughorn from the slightly raised platform at the front of the classroom.  
"Shit," murmured Sirius to himself as he began speeding up his shredding of hibiscus stalks, adding them along with the kidneys to his cauldron and stirring ferociously, as Remus sat staring into the pastel pink depths of his own. James and Lily's potions had been brewed successfully the second time they had tried, but Peter's had gone wrong again, and was now greeny-yellow, with a fine glittery mist coming off as he stirred fervently.  
"Right, class, I think I'll collect in your homework before I set you more," said Slughorn. Sirius got out his essay, the ink having dried and turned matt overnight. The rest of the table had extracted their work from their bags, too, thought Peter was having some difficulty trying to remove a piece of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum which had appeared to have chosen its new home.  
"And your homework today," announced the professor, "is to take a small vial of Amortentia, yours if it's been brewed correctly, and write a half foot on what you can smell and what you believe that says about you." They waited for a few minutes for the potions to finish stewing, all except for Peter who by this time had just given up. It wasn't long until the lesson finished. The bell rang, the metallic sound reverberating around the stone room. Sirius shoved his books haphazardly into his bag, but then stored the small vial of his finished potion into his pocket. He then decided he might to this homework away from Remus, or he might go redder than one of Xenophilius Lovegood's dirigible plums. And he meant the fruit, not the- oh, never mind.

Sitting at dinner that evening- an activity that could take their minds off of the mountainous piles of homework they had waiting for them back in the common room- Sirius couldn't stop thinking about when he could reorganise his and Remus' date for. Could it be on a weekday? No, that would end up with their date happening in the library. Maybe-  
"Uh, Sirius," said James, looking happy but apologetic at the same time. What the hell was this about?  
"Yes, Prongsiekins?"  
"Do you- I mean, I'm really sorry- do you mind if I cancel for Saturday? It's just, I mean I kinda wanna go on a date with Lily on Saturday. Is- is that okay?" Sirius nodded, trying to make his dark eyes look disappointed, when really his heart was Riverdancing in his chest, and he felt Remus' foot nudge his ankle gently, letting Sirius know he knew what this meant too.

The date was back on.

"James," said Sirius tiredly as he finished his ice cream.  
"Mm," responded James, his head bent, but indicating that he was listening.  
"I am a very patient person, Prongsie, but can you and Lily either please stop playing footsie under the table or at least not kick my ankle while you're doing it." Lily's cheeks automatically coloured furiously, and everyone in the group heard the soles of James' shoes hitting the stone floor. Remus and Peter sniggered into their empty dishes, and they all began to get up and make their way to the seventh floor. Sometimes Sirius thought that that was the only reason Peter didn't way the same as a small elephant.

Writing a Transfiguration essay at 11 o'clock that night in front of the fire, Sirius decided that he would leave the Potions homework until the next night. He would need something to take his mind off of his upcoming date, anyway. Maybe at the restaurant he would talk to Remus about coming out to the rest of the Marauders. He just, he didn't want to pressure him.  
"Hey, Pads, you coming to bed?" The head of Remus appeared from around the corner, accompanied by a voice that was practically screaming tiredness.  
"Yeah, Moons," replied Sirius, dotting the last 'i' and crossing the last 't'.  
"'Kay. See you up there." And with that he left, leaving Sirius smiling inwardly. 

Friday morning blossomed, illuminating the fine dew on the grass, and as the sun returned later to its slumber, all four of the Marauders could be found sitting by the fire smelling small vials of liquid, ink bottles balanced precariously on armchair arms and quill scratching harmonising with the crackling of the fire. First to finish was, unsurprisingly, Remus, who then proceeded to help a Peter, who didn't even need to ask anymore- people just assisted without any questions asked. Soon after, James and Sirius finished, then Peter put the last full stop on his essay not long after that. James then went to find Lily, and Peter, well, Peter started feeling after about 3 minutes of him, Sirius and Remus sitting in silence and decided to go and find someone who was slightly more talkative.  
"You okay, Moony?" asked Sirius, moving into the chair next to Remus with a small smirk on his face.  
"Course, Padfoot," replied Remus, returning the grin. They might have not been talking about their date, but there was no doubt it was going through both of their minds.  
"Thinking about tomorrow too?" asked Remus to break the silence.  
"Yeah, Moons, I can't really stop it going through my head. You know, Remus, this is a big milestone for us, and I thought we could add another to it."  
"Sirius, are you trying to ask me to do with you what it sounds like?"  
"What?" Sirius thought over his previous words and realised it had sounded like he had been trying to get Remus to sleep with him. Whoops. "No! No, God no! I meant maybe telling the others, honestly I did!  
"Well," Remus sighed, relieved, "I guess I'll think about it."  
"But unbeknownst to either of them, Remus would never have to make this particular decision.

Saturday arrived with a fine layer of mist settling over the grounds, mixing with the smoke from the gamekeeper's cabin down by the Forbidden Forest. However, the day was wasted by both Remus and Sirius, neither of whom could stop thinking about the evening approaching rapidly. So, at seven that evening, they made a mumbled excuse about Quidditch and libraries and left the common room, heading towards the grounds. Although there was a perfectly good passage to get to Hogsmeade (though it always looked as though it was about to cave in) within the school building, there was so,etching special about going through the tunnel under the tree planted for Remus while sneaking out for their first date. About a quarter of the way through the tunnel Sirius took Remus' hand in his own and took off running, dragging Remus along with him.  
"Sirius!" laughed Remus, feeling the cold underground air rush through his hair. "Slow down, you know there are stairs coming up!"  
"Ok, just for you, Moons," Sirius replied, also laughing but panting slightly at the same time.  
"This is insane, isn't it. We've just left our common room, out friends and our homework to sneak out on a date that no one else knows about."  
"Merlin, you would bring the conversation back to homework, wouldn't you?" said Sirius, trying to sound exasperated, but he turned towards Remus and kissed him properly, lips to lips, without fear of being caught, or having to rush off to a lesson after hiding in a broom cupboard.  
"Come on, Sirius," Remus whispered, having been the first to pull away, "let's get to the restaurant."

Fifteen minutes later, having given fake names to the waitress, they were sat down across from each other at a table for two. Remus' hand was underneath Sirius' and they were just getting their meals. Both had ordered spaghetti carbonara, and they both starting eating as soon as the meals arrived, because they had wanted to have an appetite and since James and Lily were going on a date tonight, too, they had joined them in skipping dinner.  
"So how did you find this place, Sirius?" asked Remus between mouthfuls of pasta.  
"Oh, I asked Ashma if she knew anywhere good to take someone on a first date." Remus nearly choked.  
"What?! Did she not ask anything?"  
"Nah, I think she thought I was going to take some girl out on a first date, and she was probably hoping it would be Paige. More fool her," he finished, putting another forkful of spaghetti into his mouth and beginning to chew.  
"I wonder how James is doing without any of the other Marauders to keep him company," mused Sirius. Remus' eyes suddenly widened.  
"Sirius, how many other romantic restaurants are there in Hogsmeade?" he asked quietly, nervously.  
"Maybe one or two, why?"  
"We're not the only ones going on a date tonight."  
"Sirius? Remus?" came a voice from near the door. And with that, both Remus and Sirius' worlds came crashing down.

Back in the common room, dinners cut short or cancelled, James was pacing up and down in front of the fire, Remus and Sirius sat in armchairs, hating their luck.  
"You mean to tell me, the two of you have been dating? Why the hell did you never tell me?" asked James. Sirius stood up.  
"Because, mate, we thought you would react like this, interrogating us and making us miss pudding!" retorted Sirius, and Remus almost smiled as Sirius said something that petty in this situation.  
"Oh, well, sorry if I'm not completely comfortable with sharing a bedroom with a couple of poofs!"  
"JAMES POTTER!" shouted Lily from across the room, startling all three boys. "How dare you insult your best friends like that? Do you not think that they meant well, and how can you help who you fall in love with? Just because they didn't tell you about the fact that they're together doesn't mean they're not the same people!"  
"Yeah, guess you're right, Lils," replied James, sitting down on the low table in front of the fireplace. "Look, you two, I just want to get a few things straight. You've been going out for, what, a month without us knowing?"  
"Yeah," replied Remus.  
"And this is the first time the two of you have actually been on a date?"  
"Uh-huh "  
"Oh, God, Sirius, this is why you freaked out so much when I said about you going on a secret date instead of Quidditch practice, isn't it?"  
"Yeah, Prongs, it pretty much explains everything, doesn't it," agreed Sirius.  
"I-I guess it does, doesn't it. I'm, I'm sorry for the way I reacted before, and the way you thought you couldn't tell me. I just want you to know that I'm happy for you guys, as long as I find no gay porn in the dormitory."  
"James!"  
"Joking, Lils, joking." And for the first time since he had spotted them in that restaurant a smile spread across his face. Sirius smiled too, then joined by Remus and Lily.  
"Hey, James," said Remus, finally. "Don't tell Peter yet, please."  
"Cool with me, Moons. I don't think you need more than one accidental coming out in a lifetime. This one I'll leave up to you guys." Silence then ensued, until Sirius had a bright idea.  
"You know, pudding might be available in the Great Hall if we go right now…"  
"First one down gets first pick!" called James, and the four of them ran down, past Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, not Slytherins because they went down to the dungeons to their common room, and other Gryffindors, all panting as they went to sit down at their house table, helping themselves to a pudding.  
"I really am happy for you guys, okay?" James said, smiling, which would have been very sweet if his mouth hadn't been full of food at the time.  
"Okay, Prongs. Thanks," replied Sirius, digging into his own food at last, his and Remus' hands intwined under the table.


End file.
